Quzhou dialect

Quzhou dialect
衢州話
Pronunciation	[dʒy tɕiɯ ɦuɑ]
Native to	People's Republic of China
Region	Quzhou prefecture, Zhejiang
Language family	Sino-Tibetan Sinitic Wu Chuqu Quzhou dialect
Language codes
ISO 639-3	–
Glottolog	chuz1238

The Quzhou dialect (衢州話; pronounced Wu Chinese pronunciation: [d̥͡ʒ̊y.tɕiɯ.ɦuɑ] in the Quzhou dialect) is a dialect of Wu Chinese spoken in Quzhou, China.

Phonology

Initials

		Labial	Dental	Palatal	Postalveolar	Velar	Glottal
Nasal		m 迷	n 拿	ɲ 寧		ŋ 咬
Plosive	tenuis	p 巴	t 丁			k 公	ʔ 愛
	aspirated	pʰ 怕	tʰ 聽			kʰ 空
	slack voice	b̥ 爬	d̥ 停			ɡ̊ 共
Affricate	tenuis		ts 增	tɕ 九	tʃ 真
	aspirated		tsʰ 寸	tɕʰ 秋	tʃʰ 春
	slack voice		d̥z̥ 存	d̥ʑ̊ 求	d̥ʒ̊ 陳
Fricative	tenuis	f 方	s 森	ɕ 心	ʃ 雙	x 好
	slack voice	v̥ 房	z̥ 時	ʑ̊ 尋	ʒ̊ 床	ɣ̊ 或
Approximant			l 來	(j) 移		(w) 吳	ɦ 或

Finals

Medial	Nucleus
	∅	ɑ	e̞	ɘɪ	ɔ	ɤ	ə	æ	ən	ã	ɒ̃	oŋ	əʔ	ənʔ	ɐ̞ʔ	liquid
∅	試 [ʐ]	家 [ɑ]	菜 [e̞]	走 [ɘɪ]	包 [ɔ]	勾 [ɤ]	南 [ə]	三 [æ]	本 [ən]	打 [ã]	方 [ɒ̃]	公 [oŋ]	六 [əʔ]	脱 [ənʔ]	白 [ɐ̞ʔ]	爾 [ɫ]
i	去 [i]	謝 [iɑ]	變 [ie]		表 [iɔ]	九 [iɯ]			金 [iɲ]	兩 [iã]	旺 [iɒ̃]	窘 [ioŋ]	业 [iɘʔ]		弱 [iɐ̞ʔ]	姆 [m]
u	布 [u]	瓜 [uɑ]	快 [ue̞]	會 [uɘɪ]			官 [uə]	慣 [uæ]	昏 [uən]	昌 [uã]	光 [uɒ̃]		國 [uəʔ]		划 [uɐ̞ʔ]	魚 [ŋ]
y	雨 [y]						捐 [yə]		運 [yɲ]				肉 [yəʔ]			水衢 [ɥ]

Tones

The Quzhou dialect is considered to have seven tones. However, since the tone split from Middle Chinese, characters still depend on the voicing of the initial consonant. These constitute just three phonemic tones: ping, shang, and qu. (Ru syllables are phonemically toneless.)

Tone chart of Quzhou dialect

Number	Tone name	Tone contour	Examples
1	陰平 yīn píng	[˦] (44)	江天飛空
2	陽平 yáng píng	[˩˩˨] (112)	來同魚頭
3	陰上 yīn shàng	[˧˦] (34)	懂紙古口
4	陽去 yáng qù	[˧˩] (31)	外地路道
5	陰去 yīn qù	[˥˨] (52)	對去馬你
6	陰入 yīn rù	[˩˨̚] (12)	六肉白石
7	陽入 yáng rù	[˥̚] (5)	各黑出脫

Grammar

Sentence structure

你

ni

2SG

我

ŋu

1SG

個

kəʔ

GEN

朋友

põ.jɤ

friend

啘。

ue

PTCL

你 我 個 朋友 啘。

ni ŋu kəʔ põ.jɤ ue

2SG 1SG GEN friend PTCL

You are my friend

The first example can be compared with Japanese: あなたは私の友達だよ。(anata wa watashi no tomodachi dayo.) Here, 啘 resembles Japanese だよ (dayo).

渠(其)

ɡ̊i

3SG

你

ɲi

2SG

老師

lɔ.sʐ

teacher

啘，

ue,

PTCL,

要

iɔ

have

尊重

t͡seɲ.d̥͡ʒ̊õ

respect

人家。

niŋ.kɒ

other

渠(其) 你 老師 啘， 要 尊重 人家。

ɡ̊i ɲi lɔ.sʐ ue, iɔ t͡seɲ.d̥͡ʒ̊õ niŋ.kɒ

3SG 2SG teacher PTCL, have respect other

He/she is your teacher, and you have to respect him/her.

鉛筆

kæ.piəʔ

pencil

借

t͡ʃiɒ

borrow

支

t͡sʐ

CL

我

ŋu

1SG

好伐？

xɔ.fɐ̞ʔ

INTERR

鉛筆 借 支 我 好伐？

kæ.piəʔ t͡ʃiɒ t͡sʐ ŋu xɔ.fɐ̞ʔ

pencil borrow CL 1SG INTERR

Can I borrow a pencil?

飯

v̥æ

rice/meal

再

t͡se

again

喫

t͡ɕʰiəʔ

eat

碗

uə

bowl

添，

tʰie,

PTCL?

多

tu

more

吃

t͡ɕʰiəʔ

eat

些兒

ʃin

more+

啊。

o

PTCL

飯 再 喫 碗 添， 多 吃 些兒 啊。

v̥æ t͡se t͡ɕʰiəʔ uə tʰie, tu t͡ɕʰiəʔ ʃin o

rice/meal again eat bowl PTCL? more eat more+ PTCL

If you want to eat more, then eat more if you'd like.

感冒藥

kə.mɔ.jɐ̞ʔ

cold medicine

喫嘞

t͡ɕʰiəʔ.ləʔ

taking/eating

朆

v̥ən

INTERR

你，

ɲi,

2SG,

覅

fiɔ

NEG

記弗着

t͡ɕʰi.fəʔ.t͡ʃɐ̞ʔ

verb-remember/NEG

掉

tɔ

PTCL

唻！

le

IMP

感冒藥 喫嘞 朆 你， 覅 記弗着 掉 唻！

kə.mɔ.jɐ̞ʔ t͡ɕʰiəʔ.ləʔ v̥ən ɲi, fiɔ t͡ɕʰi.fəʔ.t͡ʃɐ̞ʔ tɔ le

{cold medicine} taking/eating INTERR 2SG, NEG verb-remember/NEG PTCL IMP

Have you taken your cold medicine yet? Don't forget to take it!

Lexicon

Pronouns

• 我 [ŋu˥˨] 1st person singular
• 你 [ɲi˥˨] 2nd person singular
• 渠[ ɡ̊i˩˩˨] 3rd person singular
• 我達 [ŋu˥˨.d̥ɐ̞ʔ˩˨], 我拉 [ŋu˥˨.lɐ̞ʔ˩˨] (我耷) 1st person plural
• 你達 [ɲi˥˨.d̥ɐ̞ʔ˩˨, 你拉 [ɲi˥˨.lɐ̞ʔ˩˨], 爾耷- [n][tAʔ]/[d̥Aʔ], [lAʔ] 2nd person plural
• 渠達 [ɡ̊i˩˩˨.d̥ɐ̞ʔ˩˨], 渠拉 [ɡ̊i˩˩˨lɐ̞ʔ˩˨] (渠耷) 3rd person plural